Wild & free: the story of Alaskan salmon: fisherman Robert Lebovic shares wild tales of this healthy fish.

If you look at a map of Alaska, to the west of Anchorage, in the Bering Sea is Bristol Bay. It's a remote region of small Yu'pic Eskimo villages, hundreds of miles from the nearest road. It's an area of tundra and lakes with the volcanic spine of the Alaskan peninsula visible in the distance. During the short summers, the waters of the great rivers there, the Kvichak, Nushagak, Egegik and Ugashik teem with life. It's the world as it once was, where brown bears and walrus outnumber people, where rivers turn red with spawning sockeyes, where you can see hundreds of while Beluga whales chasing the salmon and pods of Orcas hunting the belugas. Half of the world's sockeye salmon return to these waters to spawn. Salmon are still plentiful, as are other forms of wildlife. As poet Gary Snyder describes, "... its not the 'frontier' but the last of the Pleistocene in all its glory."

It is an inspiring place, and I've had the privilege to fish those waters for twenty years, running a small 32-font fishing boat. I am passionate about wild salmon, about the need to protect them, and about the health benefits that they bring to those of us fortunate to eat them.

Having recently moved to Asheville, NC, I often encounter misconceptions regarding salmon. In a health food store, I offered some smoked salmon to one of the employees who refused it, saying, "I don't eat endangered species." I explained that no Alaskan salmon stocks are threatened or endangered, and that in fact the river I fished on had its third biggest run in 100 years. I cited the Marine Stewardship Councils approval of all Alaskan salmon fisheries based on sustainability and lack of by-catch.

A few words about farmed salmon: if you go to most supermarkets or restaurants, you will probably find Atlantic farmed salmon. These are a poor imitation of the natural fish, about as similar in taste and health benefits to a wild salmon as Tang is to orange juice. There are many reasons why you should avoid this product. Environmentally, factory fish farms pollute the ocean with a host of chemicals including pesticides, fungicides, algaecides, and growth hormones. They spread disease and parasites to wild fish and regularly escape, threatening wild salmon stocks. The Audobon Society, Sierra Club, Seafood Choices Alliance, and other environmental organizations all recommend eating wild salmon and avoiding farmed salmon. Healthwise, the salmon farming industry uses more antibiotics pound for pound than the beef, poultry or pork industry. A recent British government study found farmed salmon to be the most contaminated food sold in supermarkets. Farmed salmon are fed the chemical dye canthazanthin, found to damage eyesight. Socially, the low cost of farmed salmon is wreaking economic havoc on fishing communities. Farmed salmon is indeed cheap bill only because the aquaculture corporations are allowed to socialize their costs while privatizing their profits.

Wild salmon is a wonder food. Its one of the purest forms of protein we have available Omega-3 fish oils are the health secret. These highly polyunsaturated oils prevent platelets in the blood from sticking to arterial walls as plaque. They lower LDL (bad cholesterol). The American Heart Association recommends two servings per week to reduce by one-third the risk of heart attacks and nearly halve the risk of strokes. University of California studies have linked salmon consumption with lower rates of breast and prostate cancer. Other studies have found fish high in omega-3s, to help with depression, asthma, emphysema and menstrual pain. These oils help in the development of healthy brains before birth and in childhood--lack of these oils is believed to cause or exacerbate dyslexia, hyperactivity, and other learning disabilities. Omega-3s are believed to protect the brain from the diseases of aging, including Alzheimer's.

Beyond studies though, there is an intangible benefit to eating wild salmon. Most enlightened folk believe that you are what you eat. Wild salmon live freely. They swim tens of thousands of miles in clean cold water and jump waterfalls. They are sleek aquatic bullets; their lives are a challenging circular journey. They provide a feast for the gray whale, the brown bear, and the bald eagle. To share this feast, to take sustenance respectfully from such a timeless resource feeds more than the body, it feeds the soul.

References and Further Reading

--www.nbc11.com/health/1391073/detail.html

--www.farmedanddangerous.org

--"Salmon Becomes a Grey Area for EU," The Guardian, Jan. 28, 2003

--"Alaska Seafood, the Nutrition Story," www.alaskaseafood.org

Robert Lebovic, aka "The Salmon Guy," offers a variety of self-caught wild salmon, lox and other fish year-round, with home delivery to the Asheville, NC area. Contact him at 828-350-9969.